Best time to tune the xm radio station while on approach?

Yep, I'm a music on guy also. My setup (and most, I believe) mute the music when they detect talking (ATC, in-plane, etc). I ALMOST did it on my IFR checkride to reduce the stress, but didn't have the cajones to do it.
 
EdFred said:
I don't listen to music when IFR or flight following because ATC and other pilots keep interrupting my music.
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Terminal areas, no music. Enroute, yeah, music, and I don't find the interruptions that onerous enroute.
 
I concur with Bill.
Once in the terminal area, interphone and entertainment devices go off
(same when I watch videos with music attached -- extremely distracting and irrelevant)
 
Gotta kill the XM in my plane in busy environments anyhow. Any radio transmission mutes the GDL for several seconds anyhow.

For a while my plane was wired that the XM was muted when the gear was up (oops). It's amazing that it took me as long as it did to get the cause and effect on that one. It worked fine on the ground but when I got around to testing it in flight it didn't. Then one day I left it on and it came on when I lowered the gear...you gotta be kidding me...raised the gear it went off....My avionics guy's head exploded when I told him that was happening.
 
flyingron said:
Gotta kill the XM in my plane in busy environments anyhow. Any radio transmission mutes the GDL for several seconds anyhow.

For a while my plane was wired that the XM was muted when the gear was up (oops). It's amazing that it took me as long as it did to get the cause and effect on that one. It worked fine on the ground but when I got around to testing it in flight it didn't. Then one day I left it on and it came on when I lowered the gear...you gotta be kidding me...raised the gear it went off....My avionics guy's head exploded when I told him that was happening.
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Well at least the fix was easy: don't raise the landing gear. :goofy:
 
Its a Cirrus. The pilots just a passenger anyway. :D Besides he made sure to keep his speed up so he wouldn't get slow and stall so messing with the radio is ok.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Well at least the fix was easy: don't raise the landing gear. :goofy:
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I really like going faster than 87 knots. Actually, one day I sat down with the Navion manual and manuals for the GDL89A and the audio panel. I figure I'm going to figure this out. I open up the GDL89A installation instructions and it says that you absolutely have to wire up the gear horn to mute the thing and it's got three active high and three active now mute inputs. Unfortunately, there's no where on the Navion gear that you can connect these two to work properly. You'll either connect it to the gear switch (as mine was) or to the thottle switch (now that one would have been interesting to find). I just cut the wire. I have no problem hearing the gear horn over the sound of the XM.
 
flyingron said:
I really like going faster than 87 knots . . . I just cut the wire. I have no problem hearing the gear horn over the sound of the XM.
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Lol. Very much the same as those who put in NAV/DVD systems in their cars which, by law, can't show the entertainment on the main screen while in motion. The signal wire is tied to the parking brake so that it must be engaged in order to see the movie. The simple solution to that is just to ground the wire and it "fixes" the problem. :lol:
 
Guess I am one of the limited few that thinks it would not be smart to be listening to music while approaching the pattern. How can so many of you be ok with that?
 
Many headsets (Zulu, Bose...) will reduce music volume by 80%, essentially muting it, when an ATC transmission comes in. I've never used this feature myself but I think thats how it works.
 
JasonM said:
Guess I am one of the limited few that thinks it would not be smart to be listening to music while approaching the pattern.
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Same here.

I do like listening to tunes on the iPad during the cruise portion of a five-hour flight, with muting during radio calls.

I turn it off when the workload starts -- starting when I am briefing an approach and descending.
 
My audio panel mutes the music for any intercom or ATC traffic, but I still prefer to switch it off in the pattern. I honestly dont have an issue with anyone listening to it, but tuning stations while on final to an uncontrolled field seems pretty sketchy. That's the time when you should be looking outside the most, not head down scrolling through a menu.
 
Muting music drives me crazy. I never turn music off, stream it into my headset via bluetooth whenever I'm flying. I just set the intercom and radio volume above the music and have no problem seperating the two or getting distracted.
 
On another note, I would do some very revolting things - up to and including changing my political affiliation and my sexual preference - to be able to comfortably afford his Cirrus.
 
JasonM said:
Guess I am one of the limited few that thinks it would not be smart to be listening to music while approaching the pattern. How can so many of you be ok with that?
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Because they have experience with it. I'm on your end of wanting to shut those things off when the workload increases (I actually don't like flying with music that much altogether).

But, having spent years working on demanding mental tasks with music in the background, or even directly into my ears, I know how it simply disappears and becomes white noise that can help drown out distractions and make concentration even easier.
 
RussR said:
Nice to see he removes his shoulder harness after landing as he's exiting the runway, in clear violation of 91.107(a)(3).
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I taxi to/from the hangar/pumps and don't bother with my seat belt. Also, some aircraft, unless you have inertial reels, you can't reach certain switches, or whatever else, and you have to unbelt the shoulder strap.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Lol. Very much the same as those who put in NAV/DVD systems in their cars which, by law, can't show the entertainment on the main screen while in motion. The signal wire is tied to the parking brake so that it must be engaged in order to see the movie. The simple solution to that is just to ground the wire and it "fixes" the problem. :lol:
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In my car and my Dads the NAV system shuts down your ability to type on it once you're moving. In my wife's Audi it's much nicer. It warns you to do nothing stupid, but it's smart enough to realize it might be the front seat passenger that's hacking on the GPS.
 
As for muting...I did have the Karaoke input wired to a switch on my panel (it was a joke between me and the avionics guys). If you don't do that, you can't sing along with the XM because even intercom input mutes the entertainment system.
 
EdFred said:
I taxi to/from the hangar/pumps and don't bother with my seat belt. Also, some aircraft, unless you have inertial reels, you can't reach certain switches, or whatever else, and you have to unbelt the shoulder strap.
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I don't think that's an issue in an SR22.
 
flyingron said:
In my car and my Dads the NAV system shuts down your ability to type on it once you're moving. In my wife's Audi it's much nicer. It warns you to do nothing stupid, but it's smart enough to realize it might be the front seat passenger that's hacking on the GPS.
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Yeah, my '08 F-150 NAV disables any address/POI inputs while over 5mph. I've only tried to use it two or three times since I bought it, so I'm not too concerned. The phone is always a better option for NAV. I'm not buying on of Ford's map-update DVD's either, at $150!
 
Until I find a way to get the music to mute only when I key up, I'm leaving it off. It's just too bloody annoying to have the music start and stop anytime anyone keys up, or a cabin mic goes to Vox. I don't play it real loud since I want to hear the engines and plane, so I'll be able to hear my calls under the music, no worries.
 
flyingron said:
As for muting...I did have the Karaoke input wired to a switch on my panel (it was a joke between me and the avionics guys). If you don't do that, you can't sing along with the XM because even intercom input mutes the entertainment system.
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This is pure awesome and I need to remember to do it if we ever work on our panel. Our fix for it right now is that the aux input doesn't mute at all. Haha.
 
the newer cirrus iimtercom/audio has a mode to fade the music when receiving radio transmssions. I have ocassionally left the xm music on an ifr approach. nothing beats flying to some clasic rock while on the clouds.
 
I'm with Jesse in that the music cutting in and out drives me crazy. I turn it on when I get in and off when I'm getting out of the plane. It's all set up so that any cockpit sounds and radio transmissions are louder and mostly cover the music. It just felt wrong during my check-ride at FSI since we don't use headsets, and therefore no music...

As for the video, I don't see a problem with it if configured on a long, stable approach...
 
Well, the age gap is going to show here.
You want music and entertainment go to the singles bar.
You want to fly with me in an airplane there will be no music.

music. , , , sheesh
 
Dr. O said:
Well, the age gap is going to show here.
You want music and entertainment go to the singles bar.
You want to fly with me in an airplane there will be no music.

music. , , , sheesh
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It could go either with me, but since the music cutting in and out Annoys the crap out of me, I go without. I wouldn't mind it on those long days with 3*6 hour legs.
 
Dr. O said:
Well, the age gap is going to show here.
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I wonder at what age that gap break occurs. When I was flying in conjunction with my company's business---mostly 3,4,5 hour cross country flights---there was always music going. I'm 55.

Henning said:
It could go either with me, but since the music cutting in and out Annoys the crap out of me.
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The PSE audio panel has a mute override and it's always engaged in my plane.

I only listen to music when solo. With passenger(s) it's just too much.
 
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Dr. O said:
Well, the age gap is going to show here.
You want music and entertainment go to the singles bar.
You want to fly with me in an airplane there will be no music.

music. , , , sheesh
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Not only have I never listened to music in the plane, It's never even occurred to me to try.
 
Dr. O said:
Well, the age gap is going to show here.
You want music and entertainment go to the singles bar.
You want to fly with me in an airplane there will be no music.

music. , , , sheesh
Click to expand...

Lol... I don't think age has anything to do with this. Since you brought it up though, sounds like you're young and inexperienced and you're still unsure of your flying abilities. With some experience you'll gain regular routines that will help you reduce your concentration efforts. Just like when you started driving and had both hands on the steering wheel and didn't like the radio on.

Not knocking those of you that don't listen to music, just knocking this self-righteous guy.

In all reality, for what it's worth, I just flew a trip (Chicago-Florida) with over 15 hours flown over the period of a week, and had music playing startup-shutdown without one missed call, screwed up call, or safety issue. In fact, over an hour of it was in IMC. Really kept me at ease during some tough flying.

I also have the auto-mute feature, and also would not dream of changing a station/song during a critical phase of flight.

You guys can enjoy your silence (err.. engine white noise), but whether I'm driving or flying I have to have some background noise to keep me from going crazy.
 
Henning said:
Until I find a way to get the music to mute only when I key up, I'm leaving it off. It's just too bloody annoying to have the music start and stop anytime anyone keys up, or a cabin mic goes to Vox. I don't play it real loud since I want to hear the engines and plane, so I'll be able to hear my calls under the music, no worries.
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I have a switch that enables and disables this feature. We labeled it "Karaoke" mode. It allows you to sing along with the XM radio. It's a pin on the Garmin audio panel connector and I think it's button selectable on the PSE panels.
 
flyingron said:
I have a switch that enables and disables this feature. We labeled it "Karaoke" mode. It allows you to sing along with the XM radio. It's a pin on the Garmin audio panel connector and I think it's button selectable on the PSE panels.
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Thanks, good to know.
 
flyingron said:
I have a switch that enables and disables this feature. We labeled it "Karaoke" mode. It allows you to sing along with the XM radio. It's a pin on the Garmin audio panel connector and I think it's button selectable on the PSE panels.
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Yep, on my PM3000 you press one of the buttons for "Karaoke mode".

http://www.ps-engineering.com/intercoms.shtml

-Andrew
 
ahkahn said:
Lol... I don't think age has anything to do with this. Since you brought it up though, sounds like you're young and inexperienced and you're still unsure of your flying abilities. With some experience you'll gain regular routines that will help you reduce your concentration efforts. Just like when you started driving and had both hands on the steering wheel and didn't like the radio on.



Not knocking those of you that don't listen to music, just knocking this self-righteous guy.



In all reality, for what it's worth, I just flew a trip (Chicago-Florida) with over 15 hours flown over the period of a week, and had music playing startup-shutdown without one missed call, screwed up call, or safety issue. In fact, over an hour of it was in IMC. Really kept me at ease during some tough flying.



I also have the auto-mute feature, and also would not dream of changing a station/song during a critical phase of flight.



You guys can enjoy your silence (err.. engine white noise), but whether I'm driving or flying I have to have some background noise to keep me from going crazy.
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Completely opposite from me. I'm a student pilot, so I can't relate to music during flight, but as far as driving goes I usually prefer music only about 25% of the time unless its during long multi hour drives.

I once had a job that required me to frequently drive with a coworker, and I was amazed at what I would call his inability to function in silence. Whether it was in a car or the office or wherever, he just could not deal with peace and quiet.
 
jesse said:
Muting music drives me crazy. I never turn music off, stream it into my headset via bluetooth whenever I'm flying. I just set the intercom and radio volume above the music and have no problem seperating the two or getting distracted.
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This. I might lower the volume, but the music is nice.

Henning said:
Until I find a way to get the music to mute only when I key up, I'm leaving it off. It's just too bloody annoying to have the music start and stop anytime anyone keys up, or a cabin mic goes to Vox. I don't play it real loud since I want to hear the engines and plane, so I'll be able to hear my calls under the music, no worries.
Click to expand...

ahkahn said:
Yep, on my PM3000 you press one of the buttons for "Karaoke mode".

http://www.ps-engineering.com/intercoms.shtml

-Andrew
Click to expand...

I have the PMA8000B (PS Engineering) - works great, front-panel selectable for this function. Love it.
 
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